


A Thin Line

by Jacie



Series: NCIS: Alpha Series [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Boats and Ships, First Kiss, M/M, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-22
Updated: 2009-11-22
Packaged: 2017-11-19 10:53:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/572484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacie/pseuds/Jacie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>DiNozzo finds there is a thin line separating dreams and reality. Gibbs doesn't make it any easier for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thin Line

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first NCIS story and the beginning of the Alpha Series.

“DiNozzo, you’re with me,” Gibbs hollered, never breaking stride as he headed out of the office.

They’d worked together for years. Tony knew the drill. “Yes, Boss,” he called, already grabbing his pack as he hustled to join Gibbs at the elevator. “Where are we headed?” he asked as he stepped into the elevator beside Gibbs.

Gibbs looked Tony up and down. “For starters, we’ll both need a change of clothes.”

“Yeah? Undercover?” Tony smiled broadly. “You know how I love undercover work, Boss.”

Gibbs smirked as the elevator doors opened.

Three hours later, the pair had changed clothes and had picked up a fishing boat that Tony was certain had been taken in some sort of a drug raid. Gibbs handled the wheel while Tony tried to keep his lunch down.

“How are we supposed to be undercover when we’re wearing these neon orange raincoat things?” questioned Tony.

“We’re supposed to be fishermen. Fishermen want to be seen in case they go overboard.”

“Yeah? What are we fishing for?”

“In our case, drug runners.”

“One of our cases?”

“Top secret case. Can’t discuss this with anyone,” Gibbs divulged as he turned the boat toward land and handed the binoculars to Tony. “We need to find our slip.” 

“I hope that’s not a pink slip,” joked Tony.

Gibbs throttled down the boat as he glared in Tony’s direction.

“Of course it’s not a pink slip,” Tony mumbled, his smile gone.

“Search the dock. Tell me when you see a ship called _Northern Destiny II_.” 

Tony searched the ships at the dock as Gibbs moved them ever closer. Finally he saw it. _Northern Destiny II_ was a fair sized yacht. “Thar she blows, Captain.”

“See if you can manage to tie us up at the dock. Try acting like this isn’t your first time.”

Tony laughed as he eyed the mooring lines. “Boss, you know my first time happened long ago.”

Gibbs was beside him in a moment, slapping the back of his head. “Not the first time I was talking about, sailor.”

With the motor off, it was easier to hear the waves splashing against the sides of their boat. Being tied lessened the gentle rolling enough for Tony’s stomach to quiet down. He was still checking out the yacht through the binoculars when he heard Gibbs going below deck.

“You hungry?” Gibbs called.

“I could eat.”

“Then get down here.”

Tony obliged. Still holding onto the binoculars, he made his way down the short flight of steps. The lower deck was cramped. Tony’s eyes wandered around the space. “Where do we sleep?” he asked.

Gibbs was already at the stove, busy frying some burgers. “We don’t. We’re on stakeout. We watch.”

“Then shouldn’t I stay on deck and watch?”

“Not now, DiNozzo. Later. The bad guys come out at night. Remember?”

“Sure, Boss.”

“And change. You look like a giant road flare.”

“You said fishermen wore neon suits so they could be seen.”

“We’re not fishermen anymore. We are Special Agents on assignment. We wanted to be seen coming in, but now we don’t want to be seen doing surveillance. Get it?”

Tony nodded as he discarded the rain suit. Like Gibbs, he was wearing a black turtleneck and black dockers underneath. Gibbs tossed him a black knit cap to wear as he began bringing food over to the table. Burgers and chips. Tony wondered who chose the menu.

After dinner, Gibbs played solitaire while Tony washed the dishes. When the sun closed in on the horizon, Gibbs grabbed a bottle and two glasses and headed to the deck. Tony followed.

The pair sat at a small table bolted to the deck. The chairs had been folded and stored until Gibbs brought them out. They faced the _Northern Destiny II_ as Gibbs opened the bottle and poured a couple inches of amber liquid into each glass. Tony read the bottle, bourbon. Gibbs reached for his glass and sipped, his eyes glued onto the yacht.

“Boss? Should we be drinking?”

“Take a sip,” Gibbs urged. When Tony didn’t go for his glass, Gibbs grinned and turned toward him. “It’s tea.”

“Ah. Then can I have mine on the rocks?”

“Sorry, no ice.”

Tony leaned back into his chair and sipped at his glass of only slightly cooled tea. “Yeah, this is the life I’ve always dreamed of. Sitting on a crappy boat drinking lukewarm tea, while watching other people party on a beautiful yacht.”

“Just keep your eyes open.”

And Tony did keep his eyes open, until sometime after one in the morning. Then between the gentle roll of the boat, the cool air and the darkness, he slipped into sleep. When he awoke a short time later, he felt the blanket Gibbs had covered him with. Gibbs was still sitting up, wide awake and watching the yacht for activity.

“Cold DiNozzo? Or just tired?”

“How’d you know I was awake?” he asked with a yawn and a stretch.

Smiling, Gibbs softly offered, “You stopped snoring.”

Tony rubbed his eyes and slapped his cheek, trying to wake himself further.

“If you’re still tired, you should sleep. I’ll wake you when I need you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I brought up some stuff. Over there. Comforter and a couple blankets. Go on, make yourself comfortable.”

Tony headed for the dark pile of bedding. The comforter was flat against the deck with two blankets and two pillows on top of it. Tony knew better than to ask to go below deck, out of the chill of the night air. 

He had barely gotten comfortable when he felt Gibbs slip beneath the blankets. When Tony turned, Gibbs still had his eyes trained on the yacht. “Just keeping you warm,” he said. “And close enough to get you up quickly and quietly, if the need arises.”

Tony nodded, too tired to argue, then allowed himself to drift back to sleep. His body was lured by the warmth of another so close. A beautiful brunette invaded his mind as he reached to touch, to kiss. Something felt wrong with his dream and woke him with a start. Stubble.

In the faint light, he could only make out Gibbs’ icy stare that sent a chill through him to the core, causing him to shiver as he quickly rolled over, facing away from Gibbs. Swallowing hard, he contemplated what sort of reprimand he’d be getting for this.

Gibbs’ hand settled on his shoulder, to comfort, not to confront. “Go back to sleep, Tony.”

As he was drifting off, Tony felt Gibbs spooning closely behind him, Gibbs’ arm reaching across his body and their fingers lacing together. Tony shivered again, not knowing what to think or to say.

“Just trying to keep you warm, DiNozzo.”

This time he dreamt someone was nuzzling at the base of his neck, licking at the rim of his ear. When he heard a voice, it was Gibbs saying, “I will always protect you.”

A couple hours later, Tony felt a kick through the sole of his boots. His instincts took over as he sat up quickly, gun drawn. After blinking his eyes in the misty dawn light, he realized he was pointing his weapon at Gibbs and lowered it immediately. “Sorry, Boss.”

“Don’t apologize for having good reactions. Could save your life one day. Or mine. I need you to get up and watch the ship. Let me know if anything happens over there.”

Tony holstered his gun and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as Gibbs headed below deck. His stomach grumbled and hoped Gibbs had gone to make breakfast. Taking up the binoculars, Tony focused and watched for several minutes before he saw anyone moving on the yacht.

“Gibbs!” he called, running to the top of the stairs. “Boss, they’re leaving.”

Gibbs thrust a fried egg sandwich into his hands as he pushed by Tony on his way to the deck. “Good work. I’ll call it in. Start untying the boat. And get your gear back on.”

“Gear?”

Gibbs took the opportunity to slap the back of Tony’s head. “The neon orange plastic rain gear you love so much.”

“Are we going to follow them? In this?”

“No, we are going out fishing. That’s what we fishermen do.”

The pair kept the yacht in sight until the Coast Guard and a Navy ship came in to intercept. Gibbs only stuck around for a few minutes before he got a call on his radio, allowing them to head in.

Once they reached shore, Gibbs tossed the keys to Tony. “You drive, I sleep.”

“Boss, why were we watching them?”

“Inside job, DiNozzo. They needed eyes that wouldn’t be recognized by the bad guys.”

As soon as they arrived back at NCIS headquarters, Gibbs grabbed his stuff and headed to his car. Tony watched him. Gibbs hadn’t even said goodbye.

Tony started to go home, but wound up outside of Gibbs’ house. He spent the day waiting and watching, but Gibbs never left. Tony began wondering if Gibbs had ever come home. The hours ticked by as Tony thought about the night before, wondering what really happened and how much trouble he was really in with Gibbs. Running his fingertip over his lips helped remember the kiss, the roughness of Gibbs’ cheek. Then he wondered if it had truly happened or had only happened in his dreams. He had to know.

They had traded keys years earlier, just in case. Tony always carried Gibbs’ house key with him, but found that he didn't need it. The door had been left unlocked. The house was quiet. Tony stepped softly, not wanting to awaken Gibbs if he was sleeping. Then he heard the soft sound of scraping and headed towards the basement.

Gibbs didn’t turn around right away. Tony stood at the top of the stairs, watching.

“You going to stand there all day?” Gibbs asked, never pausing his work or turning to face Tony.

“No, Boss. I wanted to talk to you.”

“I was wondering how long you were going to sit out there,” Gibbs said, nodding toward the small window.

“You knew?”

“I always know.”

“Why didn’t you come get me? Or call?”

Gibbs finally set down his tools and walked over to his bourbon bottle, pouring a bit into his coffee cup before offering the bottle to Tony. “You seemed to have something on your mind. I figured you’d be in when you were ready to talk about it. Or, you’d go home.”

Tony took a swig of the bottle and coughed. “How do you drink this stuff?”

“You sip it,” Gibbs said, bringing his mug to his lips.

“I meant, why?”

“I knew what you meant. What’s troubling you, Tony?”

“Last night. On the boat.”

“Nothing happened.”

“When I was sleeping, I had this dream.”

“Tony, I told you. That was a top secret op. It is not to be discussed. At all. Nothing happened last night. Understood?”

“Yeah, Boss. Understood.”

Between Gibbs and Tony, they managed to polish off the bottle. At the top of the stairs, Gibbs quickly turned and thrust his hand into Tony’s pocket, relieving him of his car keys. Tony giggled, slightly off balance as he reached for his keys.

“Tony, I am not going to let you drive home tonight. You’ve had way too much to drink to be driving. There’s a new toothbrush in the bathroom.”

Tony smiled, “That makes two nights in a row that we’ve slept together.”

“Bathroom, DiNozzo. Brush teeth.”

Tony swayed as he stood and was sloppy in his work, but managed to wipe the excess toothpaste away. After rinsing his mouth, he looked up to see Gibbs in the mirror.

“Use the razor,” Gibbs told him. “It’s obvious you haven’t been home.”

Tony nodded and shaved the stubble from his face. As he was heading toward the stairs and the living room couch, he paused at the doorway to Gibbs' bedroom where Gibbs was undressing. “Boss, thanks for letting me stay.”

Gibbs nodded and Tony began backing out of the room. “DiNozzo! Get in here.” A moment later, Tony was in the room. “Get undressed,” Gibbs ordered. Then, pointing toward the right side of the bed, he added, “That side is yours.”

“Boss?”

Gibbs slipped under the covers as Tony stared at him, so he patted the other side of the bed. “The couch is really uncomfortable. Besides, this is no different than us sleeping next to each other on the deck. Is it?”

Tony shook his head.

“Then get undressed and turn out the light.”

Swallowing hard, Tony slowly crawled into the bed, with Gibbs lying on his back to Tony’s right. He watched Gibbs for a few minutes. It wasn’t often he saw his boss relaxed, his eyes closed. Tony soon felt the tug of sleepiness himself and settled down on his side, facing away from Gibbs.

Finally able to relax, Tony let the alcohol lure him into a peaceful slumber. This time he dreamt he was back on the boat with Gibbs, the older man sidling up closely behind him, tightly spooning against him. Tony’s eyes blinked open with a feeling of déjà vu. He felt it, he was certain. Gibbs tightly against him, nuzzling his neck.

“Boss?” he whispered.

“Just keeping you warm.”

When Tony rolled onto his back, Gibbs was suddenly on top of him, pressing his lips against Tony’s. His hands were exploring Tony’s chest and abs, while his knees were pushing Tony’s legs apart. Tony could feel how hard Gibbs’ cock was, pressed against his own. He found himself panting and tingling as his arms found their place around Gibbs’ back. This was what he needed, what they both needed. He wondered if Gibbs would have come to his apartment, if he hadn’t showed up at Gibbs’ house.

Neither spoke a word as they allowed their hunger to drive them. Eventually, they slowed down, Gibbs resting his head against Tony’s chest as Tony kissed his hair and slipped back to sleep.

When he awoke, he was alone in Gibbs’ bed. Hurrying to the bathroom, he checked himself in the mirror, hoping to see signs of what had happened, but there were none. No bruises, scratches or redness to tell the tale. After brushing his teeth, Tony returned to the bedroom to get dressed. 

He found Gibbs downstairs in the kitchen, drinking coffee and reading the paper. “Morning, Boss,” he said. It sounded wrong, too formal after what they had shared.

“Have a bite to eat if you want.” Gibbs lazily motioned towards the bagels he had picked up.

“Boss, about last night,” Tony started.

Gibbs looked up, his eyes meeting Tony’s. “I told you, nothing happened.”

Confusion tugged at Tony’s expression. “Nothing happened on the boat? Or nothing happened last night in your bed?”

“On the boat, we were on a stakeout. You nodded off, but that’s fine. I had it covered. Last night, you were far too drunk to drive so I let you stay. Make that _made_ you stay, for your own good. You had no business driving in that condition.”

Tony nodded, still confused, and reached for a bagel. Studying Gibbs’ face, he tried to separate the thin line between reality and dreams.

Gibbs’ eyes returned to his paper. “I told you before, DiNozzo, I will always protect you.”

~~~END~~~  
November 22, 2009


End file.
